


A New Start

by savjoy



Series: College!AUStarWarsTrio [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, College!AU, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Siblings, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:00:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24102496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savjoy/pseuds/savjoy
Summary: She rubbed her wrist, where their father had grabbed when she returned home. Luke, of course, didn't know about this side of him. She'd managed to protect him from at least that much. When their mother passed, he took it much harder than she did, at least, outwardly. He even went and spent the summer afterward with their Uncle Ben, so Leia was left alone to face the new leaf their father had turned. A much darker, much more violent leaf.Somehow, even after several years of remaining in the same house, Luke only saw glimpses of what he was really like. Leia supposed he saved his spouts for her, maybe because of her resemblance to their deceased mother... though she never really knew for sure.Still, moving out was the best thing that happened to the twins, besides finally agreeing to attend the same college together. With very different aspirations, it was a difficult decision to come to, but she supposed neither one of them was ready to give up the other, just yet. What she didn't, agree with, however, was his befriending of the loud upstairs neighbors, Han and Lando. Especially the former.
Relationships: Lando Calrissian & Han Solo, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker & Han Solo, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Luke Skywalker & Han Solo
Series: College!AUStarWarsTrio [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738990
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	1. The Stupid Old Console

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first work submitted to Ao3. I hope you enjoy :) I'm new to the Star Wars World, so apologizes for any mistakes I might make! I am, however, adapting the characters to a modern universe, so bear that in mind as well. Trigger Warning for abuse as well as mentions of alcoholism and drug use.

"You will learn what it means to obey." Her father commanded, followed by the wrenching back of her arm. She cried out, against her intent, stumbling back once he'd released her. He'd stalked out of the room before she could blink the tears out of her eyes and think of a comeback. 

Luke really owed her one.

Like, really, _really_ owed her one for coming back here.

She'd pulled into the parking lot of their shared apartment building, holding the so-desperately-needed old gaming console Luke had lifted behind at their father's house after they moved only 20 minutes down the road. Why _she_ had to go get it? Luke didn't say, though Leia had the sneaking suspicion it had to do with a certain set of friends he'd been hanging around with since their freshman year. She rubbed the sore spot on her wrist where his fingers will have sure left little black and blue bruises by the next morning as she grabbed the bag holding the device and several old games he'd requested of her.

She knew better than to take it to their own apartment, and instead stalked a floor up, pounding on the door of 313 (an act she really found herself doing far too much of).

The more bearable of the two, Landen (whom only liked to be referred to as Lando, for some reason she still hadn't found out) opened the door, smiling down at her. "And we were beginning to think you got lost on the way here." He said, joking through a smile. 

"And then who would make sure the three of you haven't died holed up in here, huh?" She responded gruffly, playfully pushing past him into the dirty apartment. She saw the bottles lined up on the table and quickly realized why Luke had called her an hour or so ago, begging her to make the trip home instead of himself. She sighed, at least he was being safe about it.

"Here." She said continuing her trek into the apartment, dropping the bag onto the couch next to her brother, who gazed up at her through a very clear drunken fog. She hated it when he drank like this, but kept her mouth closed in a fine line, knowing the tirade from the person sitting next to him if she began to say anything about it.

She'd talk to him about it later.

"Care to join, princess?" Han asked, tipping a bottle of beer back into his mouth. The oh-so-clever nickname he'd coined for her always rubbed her the wrong way. He seemed thoroughly more sober compared to both Luke and Lando, as it typically went around here. As much as the three partied, she'd never seen Han anything past tipsy, from the few times she'd bothered to join them.

"Oh you know I wish I could." She replied, turning to face him. "Unfortunately, I have such things called _responsibilities_ and _deadlines_ to attend to." _'Which you should be doing as well',_ She thought, biting back the comment directed towards her brother.

"Oh, believe me, I know." Was all Han replied with, the sleek little smirk he always wore placed delicately across his features. Leia rolled her eyes, turning back towards the exit.

"Ah come on, Leia." She heard Luke plead, getting up from the couch in a clumsy manner, grabbing onto the side of the counter for support as he finally caught up to her. "One game? You and I used to love this thing." He asked, pulling out his best puppy-dog eyes. It was too bad she'd gone immune to those years ago.

"Maybe later. I need to finish the paper I was writing." She turned on her fakest sympathetic look. "You guys have fun, and be careful Luke, for god's sake." She said the last part more quietly, glancing over at Han and Lando, fishing through the bag to try and set up the ancient console. "Just don't do anything stupid."

"Promise you'll come back up?" He asked.

"No promises, but I will try, okay?"

That was all Luke needed. He was already fairly kind to her, for being her brother, but whenever he drank, the puppy dog side of him reared it's head even more. She was honestly surprised he meshed well with Han and Lando, who both were a bit rougher around the edges than her brother. Still, she gave him a sad smile and disappeared out of the apartment, sliding back downstairs.

It was thoughts like these that distracted her from her paper all night long, trying to finish it in her and Luke's shared apartment right beneath Han and Lando's. However, the drunken yells of glory and defeats were enough to drive anyone crazy. That was how the twins met the pair in the first place. Leia marching upstairs sometime well past two in the morning to thoroughly chew out the two for making a racket the first week of school. Her brother miserably followed, not wanting to start a fight with their new neighbors. However, the second Luke saw his favorite movie being played on their TV whilst Leia was in the middle of lecturing the tall man who would not stop smiling at her it was over. The three had become nearly inseparable since, despite her obvious distrust in them.

She rubbed her wrist, where their father had grabbed when she returned home. Luke, of course, didn't know about this side of him. She'd managed to protect him from at least that much. When their mother passed, her took it much harder than she did, at least, outwardly. He even went and spent the summer afterward with their Uncle Ben, so Leia was left alone to face the new leaf their father had turned. A much darker, much more violent leaf.

Somehow, even after several years of remaining in the same house, Luke only saw glimpses of what he was really like. Leia supposed he saved his spouts for her, maybe because of her resemblance to their deceased mother... though she never really knew for sure. 

Still, moving out was the best thing that happened to the twins, besides finally agreeing to attend the same college together. With very different aspirations, it was a difficult decision to come to, but she supposed neither one of them was ready to give up the other, just yet.

When her alarm clock read 3:11, she finally called it a night, shutting her laptop down and promising herself she'd finish the paper in the morning before her first class. Though sleep was the first thing on her mind, she couldn't help but worry about her brother upstairs.

But it was fine. It was more often than not he crashed on 313's couch after a night like this. She just hoped he remembered he had class in the morning. She for sure would not be going in there to wake his sorry ass up for it.

With a sigh, she folded into her bed, thoughts of both her father and her brother floating in and out of her mind as she tried to drift off the sleep. She supposed it was much much later before she finally drifted off.

* * *

"Mornin', your highness." Han teased, crossing his arms across his chest as Leia stalked into her kitchen. She jumped, not expecting him there so early in the morning.

"And what exactly are you doing here?" She questioned after composing herself from the scare. He chuckled, even though the clock behind him read only 8:31 in the morning. He had one of her favorite mugs in his hand, sipping coffee from the coffee pot _she'd_ set to go off at 8:15. Anger bubbled inside of her, now made she'd have to make a second pot later in the day. He _knew_ it took her at least two cups to wake up in the morning, a third to sip on in class. 

"Fixin' the stove." He said, motioning towards his bag of tools sitting on the counter, and her stove, nearly taken completely apart. "Luke told me you kept gettin' annoyed the left burner wouldn't turn on."

She tried to look offended. After all, it was her security deposit she'd most definitely lose if he wasn't able to actually put it back together. _He is an electrician, relax._ She reminded herself, though she'd seen him fix a lot more things than just electrics. If fix was a loose term for jury-rigging. 

"I don't remember telling you that you could just walk in here." She replied, crossing her arms over her chest, suddenly regretting her silk pajamas. She could only imagine the kind of 'princess' taunts she'd get from him now.

"I don't remember asking for permission." He replied back, placing the mug down onto the counter. "Besides, I was returning your brother. He was running late for class."

"Go figure." She muttered, reaching behind him for the pot of coffee, though he beat her to the mug, grabbing it from the cabinet above her.

She tried not to blush as she poured the cup, thoroughly unprepared to see him this morning. She'd had rather not started her day in a foul mood. She turned, ready to take her first cup as far away from him as she could get, even if it meant she'd have to drink it black, without the splash of cream she preferred.

"Did the paper bite back?" He asked, calling after her

"What?" She turned, almost fast enough to slosh her drink right out of the cup. He nodded to her arm, and she saw that she was in fact, right. A set of fingerprint sized bruises were beginning to develop where her father had grabbed her the day before.

"I fell when I went running yesterday." She answered simply, turning back around and stalking into her room.

Though, she couldn't explain the way her heart raced once she closed the door, nor the way she felt completely and utterly exposed with him standing so plainly in her kitchen like that. She tried to swallow down the lump of fear that had crept into her throat. After all, she had a paper to finish.


	2. Letting Loose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Two! Things are a bit slower-paced, but will pick up a bit after this :)

"Ya know, I was really startin' to think you were no fun," Lando said, slinging an arm around the girl's shoulders. Leia, as politely as she could, sidestepped his interaction, loosely holding her own bottle of something in her hand. 

She didn't like to drink, that much was well known. Still, some nights she found herself longing to be upstairs with her brother, acting as carefree as the three of them. After all the events with her father, alcohol was not at the top of her list of ways to let loose. Still, she wouldn't say no to one or two, especially while her brother was already indulging. 

"There's a balance." She responded with a smile. Her eyes fluttered over to where Han and Luke were draped across the couch, each on their own side of a heated debate about something she couldn't care less about. "Is this what's it's always like?" She asked Lando, who'd returned to the kitchen to refill his cup.

"Eh, if it's not the two of them it's me and him." He said, filling it halfway with something from a glass bottle and the rest with some sort of red juice. "I'm surprised it took you this long to crack. Luke is practically up here every night."

"Excuse me, I've come up here with you lot before." She said, acting mildly offended, though her smile betrayed her. "Forgive me if I don't stay for all the fascinating conversation you three have."

Lando chuckled, joining her in leaning against the counter. 

"It's better in here than out there, though. Han has tried to drag him out before."

"Really?" Leia questioned, fighting to tame the hackles of protectiveness that surged through her. She and Luke were still underaged, no matter Han and Lando's status. She didn't want him risking his career to go to a bar or club, not when they had eyes on them like they do.

"Relax, sweetheart, Luke doesn't go for it, even if he's been tempted a few times."

Leia rolled her eyes, bringing the sour liquid up to her mouth again, feeling it bitterly roll down the back of her throat.

"Woulda thought Han knew better." She mused.

"Oh, he does. But he gets so worked up about college kids. Claims we're no fun - even if I'm following him around all weekend, every weekend." Lando added. He went to the same university Leia and Luke did, though studying business instead of Political Science or... whatever Luke had decided on. Leia wasn't even sure if he had decided yet. "I think he just gets bored - stuck up in this town."

"Then why doesn't he leave? I'm sure he could find a job elsewhere."

Lando shrugged.

"Dunno. He grew up around here, guess he's not too keen to leave."

Just as Leia was about to prod further, a whistle came from the other side of the room. Han was holding a pack in his hands, gesturing out the door.

"I'm good." Lando responded, holding his free hand up.

"Whatta 'bout you, Princess? Or is it too dirty a habit?" He teased, flipping the pack in his hands.

She knew he was baiting her, it didn't change how she reacted though.

"For someone so smug, you sure make a lot of assumptions." She replied, leaving her position next to Lando and stalking across the room, beating Han out to the patio. Han gave Lando a look, who only hid his smile behind the rim of his cup.

The cool air was refreshing after being stuck inside, especially with the flush the alcohol always gave her cheeks. _Why_ she decided on a whim to come out here? Who knows. Something about Han always made her do reckless things like this. And being out on the porch alone with him, was indeed reckless. 

She'd parked herself in one of the plastic chairs the pair tossed out here, though the chill of the night air nearly making her regret this escapade. Han followed shortly after, closing the door behind them.

She could count on one hand the number of times they'd had interactions with just the two of them, the other morning with the stove being one (which, annoyingly, now worked perfectly). Her heart beat just a little too erratically for her liking, though she tried to play it cool by taking another long sip of her drink.

Han occupied the other chair, leaning back and pulling out a neatly rolled... _joint_? Leia gave him a quizzical look.

"I thought those were cigarettes."

"You sure make a lot of assumptions." He said, repeating her earlier statement with a glint in his eye. She set her jaw. She wasn't against smoking, in fact, found it a much better activity than the drinking the three normally did. Though, her experience was still fairly limited. 

He lit up, and soon the smell drifted across the entire porch, and she was sure, out across this side of the complex. She tried not to make it obvious she was watching him when he took a long drawl, blowing the smoke out and away from her. He held it out, though not in his normal daring way.

She hesitated, worrying about exactly what decisions she'd make if she inhaled a bit too much. She'd a;ready promised herself only a few drinks, she wasn't about to be like her brother, hardly able to even stumble into the apartment. Still, she took it from his fingers, delicately taking her own inhale. The harshness of the smoke was something she never got quite used to, and no matter how hard she tried, she ended up in a coughing fit.

She heard the laughs from him before she could stop, angrily tossing the joint back down onto the table.

"Aw come on, relax!" He called after her as she angrily got up, prepared to leave. "I'm just messin' with ya. Come sit back down." He said.

"Why should I do that?"

"Because you ain't that mad. But if you want to go, hey, no skin off my back." He said, kicking his feet up onto the railing, leaning back in his seat with the joint dangling from his mouth. She set her jaw, deciding whether to be defiant and go in, or be defiant and stay out.

She took a beat too long to decide to be considered natural, and huffed back over into her seat. Han gave her an amused glance, but didn't push it, passing the joint back over.

"Take it easy this time, yeah?"

She scowled, though taking a small drawl and exhaling quickly, just enough to get him off her back.

Silence fell through the pair, watching a set of sirens wail across the road in front of the complex, veering onto the interstate. She hated how often she heard them around here.

"Fell on a run, again?" He asked.

Her immediately hand went up to her face, where a long, but thin cut stretched across her left cheek. Her father's ring had caught it when she went over to make sure his electric bill was paid. Luke was _supposed_ to do it, but had forgotten about it until it was past due, and of course, couldn't make it out there that day. So Leia made the trip, much to her and her father's disapproval.

"Tree branches."

"Hmm." He mused, taking another inhale before putting it out, prematurely. 

"Why are you acting so interested?"

"Just don't like seeing a pretty lady cut up is all." He said, looking out across the parking lot. Leia blushed, thankful the dark of the night was hiding it.

"So I go from being 'no fun' to the pretty lady, huh?"

"Hey, those are Lando's words, not mine."

"Which I'm sure you repeated."

He shrugged, hiding a smile.

"What can I say, highness? You can be both."

"Oh because you know me so well."

"Know your brother, and you guys are twins, right? It's basically the same as knowin' you."

She scoffed.

"What? Anything else I should know about, then?" He added.

"That I don't go for know-it-all electricians that happen to be friends with my brother." She countered, crossing her arms over her chest, though a smile was placed delicately on her face.

He whistled, again, though a smile tugged on his lips.

"Right, it's always those boys that can buy you those silk pajamas you love so much."

This time, her cheeks really did redden.

"If they're lucky enough to even buy them for me." She said, earning herself a wicked grin from the man next to her.

The night eventually got easier for Leia to relax into. Some combination of her escapade on the porch, and a finished drink or two, she was curled up in between her brother and Han on the couch, expertly beating Lando at one of the games she'd brought over last week. Luke was right, this old thing still was a lot of fun.

"No fair!" He yelled, tossing his control onto the carpet. "She's had years of practice on me."

"Tough luck there," Han replied, giving Leia an inquisitive glance.

* * *

She wasn't drunk enough to need help getting to their apartment, though her brother might have been. She tried to refuse both Lando and Han's assistance, but they were steadfast. Han helped Luke down the stairs, Lando following close behind. 

"His room is — "

"First on the right, yeah, I know." Han called back, already stepping into Luke's room with him.

Lando stood in the doorway. 

"Fun havin' you join us tonight." He said.

"Maybe I'll consider it more often."

"Don't get too crazy on us. Like you said, then who'd come make sure the three of us weren't dead, hm?" He added. She smiled, and he left, dipping out of the apartment and back up the stairs. Just as she was about to walk into her room and shut the door, Han came stumbling out of Luke's room, closing the door behind him.

"He alright?"

"Just fine. Pretty sure he's already passed out." Han responded, coming over and leaning on her door frame. She shrunk back from him, crossing her arms. He moved to step out, heading for the door, before he stopped, turning in place.

He paused, for just a moment.

"Try not to let any more tree branches get ya, hey, Princess?" He added. Before she could retort, he'd already opened the front door and disappeared out of it.

This was bad.

Very bad indeed.


End file.
